Apparatus for adjusting a tilt-furnace



Sept. 16, 1969 SHIGENOBU SHINDO 3,467,369

APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING A TILT-FURNACE 2 Sheets-Shem l FIG.I

Filed June 2, 1966 FIG.2

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APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING A TILTFURNACE 2 Sheets- Shem 2 Filed June 2, 1966 FIG.6

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l lk llxf' 'lx 1 I I Af n y mmg mmmmm m n I a? QQQQQQ E @EEUK WWW I Fl G. 8C S fi/(LEA/OB 0 1M1 6 United States Patent US. Cl. 266-36 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tilt-furnace of the type which can be tilted in opposed directions for discharging molten products such as slag and pig iron. The furnace body is supported by a rocker assembly having upper and lower coextensive runners spaced from each other with the upper runners fixed directly to the furnace body. Rollers are situated between the runners and are journalled at their ends in bearings carried by a pair of side bars. At least some of these bearings are capable of adjusting the axes of the rollers connected thereto, so that in this way at least some of the rollers are angularly adjustable with respect to other rollers to adjust the position of the furnace body.

The present invention relates to furnaces.

More particularly, the present invention relates to tiltfurnaces of the type which have 'a hollow generally horizontally extending furnace body which is capable of tilting about a substantially horizontal axis so that when tilted in one direction slag can be poured out of the furnace body while when tilted in an opposite direction molten pig iron or the like can be poured from the other side of the furnace body.

It is conventional to support furnace bodies of this type with rocker assemblies which include rows of rollers which roll along runners during tilting of the furnace body. The positions between the rollers and the runners with which they have rolling contact changes unavoidably during operation as a result of various factors, among which may be manufacturing errors or errors in the installation of the runners, and in addition the eifects of wear and expansion and contraction due to temperature changes will result in unavoidable departures from the ideal pOSitiOn of the furnace and the ideal cooperation between the rollers and runners.

These unavoidable deviations of the position of the furnace body from its ideal position results in several disadvantages such as a roughness in the furnace operation, improper pouring of the molten metal, on the one hand, and the slag, on the other hand, and in addition once excessive wear has started as a result of improper positioning of the furnace the rate of wear accelerates and the life of the entire furnace is considerably shortened.

Although the presence of these faults are well known, no particular measures have been taken up to the present time to correct them, because of the great difficulties encountered in solving this problem. Thus, furnaces of this type when adapted to handle a load of 2000 tons, for example, must in and of themselves weigh on the order of 700 tons, so that the loads with which the rollers are stressed are so tremendous that the furnace is operated without any particular steps being taken to correct faults of the above type. As a result the full effective use of a furnace cannot be achieved, and in those cases where the nature of the operations is such that any accidents due to mechanical damaging of furnace parts are absolutely impermissible, adjustments are made only with the utmost difficulty.

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It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide for a tilt-furnace of this type a structure which will enable the position of the furnace to be corrected, so as to eliminate the above drawbacks.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure which can bring about the desired corrections without the addition of any special devices to the furnace for this particular purpose.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which takes advantage of the tilting movements of the furnace body itself to bring about the required adjustment of the location of the furnace body.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which is capable of adjusting a furnace body of the above type in an extremely convenient manner with the use of an exceedingly simple structure.

In accordance with the invention at least some of the rollers which support the furnace body for tilting movement are operatively connected with a plurality of bearing means which are capable of adjusting the positions of the roller axes so that by setting the roller axes at preselected angles it is possible through the adjusted rollers to provide during the tilting of the furnace components of force which will shift the furnace body to correct its position.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic transverse sectional elevation of a tilt-furnace, FIG. 1 showing the structure for tilting the furnace as well as for supporting the furnace for tilting movement;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows in fragmentary end and longitudinal sectiolrlial elevations conventional bearing structure for a ro er;

FIG. 4 shows in fragmentary end and longitudinal sections one possible embodiment of a structure according to the present invention;

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are schematic illustrations showing positions which may be given to the rollers in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 shows the furnace in a transverse section similar to FIG. 1 at one end position of tilting movement;

FIG. 7 shows the furnace of FIG. 6 at an opposite end position of tilting movement; and

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C schematically illustrate various possibilities in the adjustments which can be achieved with the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the tilt-furnace illustrated therein includes a furnace body 1 provided with a discharge spout 11 through which molten pig iron can be poured from one side of the furnace body 1, this furnace body 1 having at its opposite side a slag discharge spout 12.

The furnace body 1 is supported for tilting movement by a rocker assembly which includes, in the illustrated example, a pair of upper runners 2 which are respectively fixed to the underside of the furnace body 1 and which have downwardly directed curved runner surfaces each of which extends along a circle whose axis coincides with the turning axis of the furnace. The rocker assembly includes beside the upper pair of runners 2 a lower pair of runners 5 which may be stationary and which have upwardly directed runner surfaces of the same curvature as the downwardly directed surfaces of the runners 2 and spaced therefrom to define therewith elongated arcuate gaps which extend along circles whose centers are in the turning axis of the furnace body. Situated in each gap is a row of mutually spaced rollers 3 in rolling engagement with the curved runner surfaces which define the gap. In order to maintain the rollers 3 of each row at a given spacing with respect to each other, the rollers are each provided at their ends with journals received in bearings carried by a pair of side bars 4 respectively situated along opposite sides of each row of rollers 3.

In order to tilt the furnace a rack 6 is pivotally connected at one end by a pivot pin 9 to a projecting lug 8 which is fixed to and projects from the furnace body in the manner shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1, and a pinion 7 meshes with the rack 6 and is driven by a furnace-tilting motor through a suitable reduction gearing or the like, so that in this way the furnace body can be tilted in opposed directions to selectively provide discharge of molten metal or slag.

Referring now to FIG. 3, which shows a conventional bearing structure for a journal at an end of a roller 3, it will be seen that each roller 3 has at each of its endS a journal 3 received in a bearing carried by one of the side bars 4. As a result the rollers 3 are not only capable of rotating with respect to the side bars 4, but these side bars in addition act to maintain the required spacing between the rollers while they roll along the runners 2 and 5. With a conventional arrangement as shown in FIG. 3 the roller axes will at all time be maintained in given positions which ideally should extend parallel to the tilting axis of the furnace but which by reason of the above factors deviate in practice considerably from this ideal, giving rise to the above-discussed faults.

With a structure of this type it is possible to tilt the furnace between the positions shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, one of these positions being that shown in FIG. 7 where the furnace is tilted through an angle of approximately 50 to a maximum tilted position providing for discharge of molten metal through the spout 11, while in the opposite direction of tilt it is possible to bring the furnace to the position shown in FIG. 6 where it is tilted through an angle of about to bring about discharge of slag from the spout 12. As is apparent from FIGS. 6 and 7, the length of the runners 5 is such that in each of the end positions several rollers at the end of each row of rollers project beyond the runners 5 and are in a floating state, in that they are unsupported at their undersides. Thus, in the end position of FIG. 6 there are three rollers 3 at the right end of each row which are situated beyond the lower runners 5, while in the end position of FIG. 7 there are five rollers 3 at the other end of each row of rollers situated beyond the runner 5.

In accordance with the invention advantage is taken of the floating state of these rollers at the ends of the rows to adjust at least these floating rollers to bring about required repositioning of the furnace body 1 during successive tilting movements thereof. For this purpose the invention includes for each adjustable roller 3, at least, a pair of bearing means cooperating with its journals, and one of these bearing means is shown in FIG. 4. Thus, referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the journal 3 is received in a bearing means 10 carried by the side bar 4 and having an outer bearing member provided with an inner bearing surface which forms part of a sphere. The journal 3 itself is surrounded and supported for rotary movement by a bearing member 13 which has an exterior bearing surface 13 forming part of the same sphere as that of the inner surface of the outer bearing member and slidably engaging the latter inner surface. With this construction it is possible, particularly when a given roller is in the floating state, to shift the inner bearing member with respect to the outer bearing member, although to a relatively small degree, so as to provide a change in the angular position of the adjusted roller 3. The extent of adjustment of the roller axis is on the order, for example, of 1-2.

Thus, referring to FIGS. SA-SC, it is possible with the structure of the invention to provide an arrangement of rollers, for one or both rows, as shown at FIG. 5A in which all of the rollers have parallel axes. In addition, however, it is possible to provide an adjustment as shown at FIG. 5B according to which some rollers remain parallel to the furnace axis while others are inclined with respect thereto, and it is even possible to provide an arrangement as shown at FIG. 5C where successive rollers have opposed angular directions. Thus, a considerable range of possible combinations of adjustments of the rollers is possible with the invention.

As has already been pointed out above, the faulty positioning of the furnace body has been found to be the result of dimensional errors in the manufacture of the parts such as the rollers, the runners, the furnace body, etc., as well as departures from ideally adjusted positions due to wearing of the parts, due to sliding rather than rolling contact therebetween, as well as to unbalanced forces, errors in installation, and displacements resulting from repeated expansion and contraction brought about by temperature changes. Lack of uniformity in temperature variations throughout the furnace body will also contribute to faulty positioning of the furnace, and once an error occurs it will shift from one part to another part of the furnace, although gradually, during the repetitious tilting movements of the furnace.

The result is that flanges at the ends of the rollers may rub undesirably along the runners or the rack 6 will undesirably strike laterally against or rub against other elements.

In order to correct the above drawbacks the furnace body is tilted, in accordance with the method of the invention, to one of the end positions shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 either when the furnace is empty or when the quantity of molten material therein is relatively small, so that under these conditions the floating state of the rollers situated beyond the lower runners is enhanced. These floating rollers are adjusted in the manner described above, for example by localized tapping forces applied against selected areas of the inner bearing members 13 to tilt them with respect to the outer bearing members and thus provide a slight change in the direction in which the axis of the adjusted roller extends. Thus, for example, referring to FIG. 8A, it will be seen that the group I of the two rows of rollers 3 are angularly adjusted in the manner indicated. When the rows of rollers are advanced in the direction of the arrow (a) shown in FIG. 8A, they will tend to roll in the direction of the arrow (b) of FIG. 8A, with the result that there is a component of force acting in the direction of the arrow (c) tending to displace the tilted rollers to the left, as viewed in FIG. 8A. If only a relatively small number of rollers have their positions adjusted in this way it may well be that the remaining rollers will dominate and the adjustment will be extremely small, if any. On the other hand, if a relatively large number of rollers is adjusted, they will produce a shift in the direction of the arrow (c). During tilting of the furnace body in the opposite direction the rollers will automatically assume their initial positions where their axes extend parallel to the furnace axis.

Referring to FIG. 8B, when the rows of rollers illustrated therein are displaced in the direction of the arrow (a) of FIG. '8B, with groups I and III adjusted as illustrated, these rollers will tend to roll in the direction of the arrow (b) of FIG. 8B, thus providing a component of force acting in the direction of the arrow (d) which will tend to displace the furnace in the opposite direction from that shown in FIG. 8A, and the extent of adjustment of the furnace body will be the difference between the adjustment derived from the group of rollers I and that derived from the group of rollers III. While the extent of angular adjustment of the rollers is limited so that it is in the range of 1-2, as pointed out above, repeated tilting movements as described above will make it possible to restore the furnace to its correct position.

It is also possible to provide adjustments as indicated in FIG. 8C, according to which only rollers of one of the rows are adjusted. In this case it will be noted that only the rollers of the right row are adjusted. Thus, the rollers of group III and the rollers of group I of the right row of FIG. 8C are successively adjusted in opposed directions, as schematically indicated. The result is that these adjusted rollers will have a braking action which will in fact displace the right row of rollers with respect to the left row of rollers, and with such an arrangement it becomes possible to correct the difference between the front and rear positions of the furnace. The adjustments are of course brought about by tilting movement of the furnace due to the frictional engagement between the adjusted rollers and the runners 2 and 5.

Of course, since it is possible with the invention to adjust the angles at which the roller axes extend, it becomes possible to correct various deviations in addition to those referred to above, by conveniently changing and selecting the numbers of rollers which are to be given a given angle and of course by selecting the particular angle of adjustment, the row in which the adjusted rollers are located, and the relative position between the load applied on the individual rollers according to the center of gravity of the furnace and the rollers which have been adjusted to a given angle.

Therefore, in accordance with the apparatus of the invention it becomes possible to easily correct deviations resulting from operation of the furnace, and in addition the apparatus of the invention requires no troublesome procedures such as removal of firebrick, and the like. The adjustments are brought about during the normal tilting movements of the furnace, and the required adjustment is achieved in an exceedingly simple way very easily and in an extremely short time. Moreover, inasmuch as the construction required for the invention is quite simple, all that is required being the bearing structure such as that shown in FIG. 4, the structure of the invention is exceedingly inexpensive. Therefore, it is apparent that the apparatus of the invention is of considerable advantage to the operation of tilt-furnaces of the above type.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tilt-furnace, a furnace body having an underside, a rocker assembly supporting said furnace body for tilting movement, said rocker assembly including an upper pair of runners fixed to said furnace body at its underside and having downwardly directed curved runner surfaces directed away from said furnace body, a lower pair of runners situated beneath and spaced from said upper pair of runners, respectively, and having upwardly directed curved runner surfaces of the same curvature as said downwardly directed curved runner surfaces of said upper pair of runners and uniformly spaced therefrom to define therewith a pair of elongated curved gaps of uniform width, a row of mutually spaced rollers situated in each of said gaps, said rollers having rolling contact with said runner surfaces during tilting of said furnace body, and each roller having a pair of end journals, a pair of side bars extending along each row of rollers at opposite sides thereof and a plurality of bearings carried by each of said side bars and respectively receiving end journals of said rollers, said plurality of bearings connecting said rollers -to said bars for rotary movement with respect thereto while said bars together with said bearings maintain a predetermined spacing between said rollers, at least some of said bearings including means operatively connected to said journals for adjusting the positions in which the roller axes extend, so that at least some rollers of each row are angularly adjustable with respect to other rollers thereof for providing during rolling contact with said runners components of force tending to displace and adjust the position of said furnace body.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said furnace body is tiltable between a pair of end positions, and in at least one of said end positions, a plurality of rollers at the end of each row situated beyond said lower runners to float freely beneath said upper runners, and the bearings which are connected to the rollers which extend beyond said lower runners in said one end position of said furnace having said means thereof operatively connected with the latter rollers for adjusting the positions of the axes thereof, so that when the furnace is turned from said one end position thereof to the other end position thereof, the adjusted rollers which were previously situated beyond said lower runners engage and roll along the latter to provide an adjustment in the position of the furnace body.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein a plurality of rollers at both ends of each row respectively project beyond said lower runners in the end positions of the furnace body, respectively, and the bearings which are operatively connected with those rollers which project beyond said lower runners at both end positions having said means thereof operatively connected with the latter rollers for adjusting the positions of the axes thereof, so that by swinging said furnace between its end positions with adjustments of the rollers which project beyond the lower runners the position of the furnace body can be adjusted.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said means which is operatively connected to a roller for adjusting the axis thereof includes an outer bearing member carried by one of said side bars and having an inner bearing surface forming part of a sphere and an inner bearing member surrounding and supporting a roller journal and having an outer bearing surface forming part of the same sphere as that of said outer bearing member and slidably engaging said inner bearing surface thereof, so that by shifting said inner bearing member with respect to said outer bearing member the position of the roller axis can be adjusted.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each means which is operatively connected to a journal for adjusting the position of the roller axis is capable of providing a roller axis adjustment through an angular distance of 1 or 2.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,500 8/1912 Lamb 266-36 1,972,679 9/1934 Cousins 263-33 X 2,599,158 6/ l952 Brassert 266-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 555,765 1/1957 Italy. 1,159,973 12/1963 Germany.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner ROBERT D. BALDWIN, Assistant Examiner 

